Some 17 juveniles inside the central prison in Hajja province started on Tuesday a hunger strike in protest at their trials which are handled by the incompetent penal courts, Almasdar Online reported quoting informed sources.
The strike comes a day after one of them was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted by a penal court, the website said, adding, “the striking juveniles argue that the juvenile court must handle their cases, not the penal courts”.
“Bashir Al-Maboush, who is now 16, has been in prison for two years since he committed his alleged crime and on Monday a court gave him a 10-year jail sentence” it quoted one of the sources as saying.
The juveniles complained from maltreatment by the jail officials saying “they don’t enjoy the least rights including lack of good food and healthcare”.
Also, the strike comes a day after Human Rights Watch urged the Yemeni government to stop seeking and carrying out the death penalty against child offenders. HRW released its report on young men awaiting executions in the country, which revealed juveniles have been sentenced to death despite evidence they were under 18 at the time of their alleged crimes.
The US-based organization said there are about 22 Yemeni young imprisoned in the central prison in the capital Sanaa are awaiting for executions.
It urged the government to start a new era through serving justice in a better way than the way of the former regime and also urged President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi to reverse the execution orders for three young men who have exhausted all appeals.